Blogs and Twitter

Trump University Blog

• 2005: Before he was active on Twitter, Trump used to post his opinions about politics and current events on a blog maintained by Trump University’s website. “It is impossible to read Donald Trump's blog without hearing his voice and picturing him typing away in his Turnbull & Asser pajamas, sleep still in his eyes. Otherwise, ‘The Trump Blog’ seems a lot like most other blogs. Which is to say, lightweight and highly egocentric. The Trump Blog is featured on the Web site for Trump University (trumpuniversity.com), which is basically a series of seminars on how to get rich. Mr. Trump and ‘his circle of experts’ run the blog, though The Donald himself ducks in only occasionally. […]On those occasions when he's not talking about himself, Mr. Trump takes on political and economic issues. He doesn't go too deep, though. After all, he's a busy man.” (New York Times, September 3, 2005)
• 2005: Contemporary reviews of Trump's blog did not rate its content highly. “Wanna read something unintentionally funny? Check out Palm Beach king Donald Trump's new blog on his Trump University Web site. Choice lines: ‘The glamour and grandeur of my buildings and my life are no mere trappings. Beauty and elegance ... is a product of style, and it comes from deep inside.’ Oh, brother!” (Palm Beach Post, August 14, 2005)
• Trump’s blog on the Trump University website had a lightly moderated comments section. “Blogs have gone corporate, raising doubts about the credibility of a fast-growing Internet innovation once used primarily for private thoughts. Business honchos from Donald Trump to General Motors executive Bob Lutz are among those embracing the new online journals, to the dismay of some blogging purists skeptical about the authenticity of such from-the-top viewpoints. […] Both Trump and Lutz say they allow critical postings on their blogs. The comments ‘have to be really extreme’ to be edited out of Trump's Web journal, said Michael Sexton, president of Trump University, who works with the real estate magnate. Business blogs perform better as soapboxes than as sales or corporate communication tools, because of the doubts they engender, Sexton said. ‘People are increasingly skeptical about what they read on the Internet.’” (Chicago Tribune, February 12, 2006)
• Some of Trump’s earliest blog posts focused on corruption by business figures, which he denounced. “Donald Trump entered the blogosphere last week. The reality show star and real estate mogul is blogging on the Web site of his new online university. He has shared his thoughts about corporate corruption and his disgust for former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski. George Ross from The Apprentice and other cronies are expected to also blog.” (Crain’s New York Business, August 15, 2005)
• December, 2005: Trump used his blog on Trump University’s website to congratulate Elton John for his marriage to David Furnish, but then snarked about not having been invited to the wedding. “All sorts of celebrities have their own Web site, and their own forum for spouting wisdom […] DONALDTRUMP.TRUMPUNIVERSITY.COM The latest: ‘There's a lot to celebrate this holiday season. Elton John married his longtime partner David Furnish on December 21.... I'm very happy for them. If two people dig each other, they dig each other. Good luck, Elton. Good luck, David. Have a great life. (But because I wasn't invited, do I still have to send them a toaster?)’” (Chicago Tribune, December 28, 2005)
• 2006: Donald Trump used his blog to berate Brad Pitt for taking a public stance in support of gay marriage. “Donald Trump used his Trump University blog to weigh in on Brad Pitt's recent statement that he wouldn't marry Angelina Jolie until ‘everybody gets a chance to wed,’ the New York Post reports. ‘Obviously, Brad is trying to be a social activist and make a point ... or at least that's what he wants people to think,’ Trump writes. ‘Maybe he's just come up with an excellent way to stay a bachelor.’” (Chicago Tribune, October 4, 2006)
• January, 2008: Donald Trump criticized American foreign policy on his Trump University blog. “According to a recent Gallup Poll, most Americans are ‘very satisfied’ with their personal lives. More than 8 in 10 Americans are pleased with the way things are going with things on the home front. Although Americans are generally satisfied at home, that's in sharp contrast to their feelings about the way things are going with our country. Only a little over one-quarter of Americans are content with the state of the United States right now. And I'm right there with them when it comes to the state of our foreign policy. It's a mess. -- Donald Trump, trumpuniversity.com” (Chicago Tribune, January 28, 2008)
• February, 2008: Trump used his blog on the Trump University website to inform readers that men suffer psychological damage from earning less than their spouses, but concluded by advising such men to “get over it” or “go out and get a better job.” “Recent research shows that a man actually can become psychologically damaged when his wife earns a larger percentage of the household income than he does.... Researchers say that [it can get worse] if the wife brags about her larger salary and tries to make a power play by getting more of the decision-making in the household.... The good news is that although a shift in income-earning may stress out the husband, it rarely hurts the marriage. In fact, with a woman bringing in more money, the relationship ends up being stronger because money always seems to make life easier. So, if your wife makes more money than you do, stop complaining and get over it. Realize that you're a really lucky guy. And if you still can't deal with it, then go out and get a better job. Donald J. Trump, trumpuniversity.com” (Chicago Tribune, February 25, 2008)
• March, 2009: Trump used his blog on the Trump University website to tell an actually funny joke about investment bankers. “Recently I heard a good one that pertains to a lot more than the luxury car market: Q: What's the difference between a pigeon and a hedge fund manager? A: A pigeon can leave a deposit on a Ferrari. -- Donald Trump, TrumpUniversity.com/blog” (Chicago Tribune, March 27, 2009)

Trump on Twitter

A searchable archive of Trump's tweets is maintained at the Trump Twitter Archive

• November, 2012: Trump tweeted a call for a revolution after Obama won a decisive reelection vcitory, then later deleted the tweet. “The Donald did a quick cleanup of the Twitter tirade he posted after President Obama's re-election Tuesday, including tweets calling for revolution and incorrectly saying that Obama had lost the popular vote.” (USA Today, November 8, 2012)
• September, 2014: Donald Trump was ridiculed after tweeting out an endorsement of Senator Mitch McConnell for House Speaker – a job he was not eligible to hold because he serves in the Senate, not the House. “We at The Fix try not to pay Donald Trump too much mind, though it's hard when big-name Republicans continue to tout his support as if he's a serious political actor. And now you know why. The below tweet, from Trump, went out shortly ago to promote Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) campaign. Yes, that's right. Donald Trump, who once polled atop a hypothetical 2012 Republican presidential primary, apparently doesn't know the difference between the leader of the Senate (the majority leader) and the leader of the House (the speaker).” (Washington Post, September 25, 2014)
  • Trump later posted a tweet claiming that his endorsement of McConnell for House Speaker had been posted by an unidentified person using his account. “Update 4:05 p.m. Wednesday: Trump has, um, clarified the whole mess, saying the tweet was actually posted by an unnamed impostor on his Twitter account. Whoever this person is 1) must be brought to justice, and 2) asked why they are trying to undermine him in such a subtle way.” (Washington Post, September 25, 2014)
• September, 2004: Donald Trump threatened to sue comedian Philip Bradbury after he was tricked into retweeting a photograph of British serial killers Fred and Rosemary West. “Careful what you retweet. That's the lesson Donald Trump learned the hard way. The business mogul said he might sue after comedian Philip Bradbury asked Trump to retweet a photo of a couple that supposedly held special meaning to him: ‘My parents who passed away always said you were big inspiration. Can you pls RT for their memory?’ So Trump did. Imagine his surprise after learning the pic was of 1970s serial killers Fred and Rosemary West, who were convicted of torture, assault, and murder in England. Fred hung himself in jail; Rose is serving out her life sentence.” (Miami Herald, September 29, 2014)
• November, 2014: Donald Trump was tricked into retweeting a photograph of notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy. “For the second time this fall, Trump was tricked into tweeting a faux-inspirational message that contained a photo of a serial killer - this time, John Wayne Gacy hugging his sister. The person who tweeted the photo at Trump - along with the message, ‘The Art of the Deal [one of Trump's books] was the book my dad read me to sleep by! Made me who I am today!’ - seems to have disappeared from Twitter, making this all the weirder.” (Washington Post, November 24, 2014)
• January, 2015: Trump reacted to a massacre at the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo by snarking about French gun control laws. “It was no surprise that after shootings at the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris this week, some Americans began to wonder about gun control laws. ‘Isn't it interesting that the tragedy in Paris took place in one of the toughest gun control countries in the world?’ American reality television star Donald Trump wrote on Twitter shortly after the news broke.” (Washington Post, January 9, 2015)
• August, 2015: A segment on Jimmy Kimmel featured Josh Groban singing Trump tweets. “On ABC's ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live,’ renowned singer and songwriter Josh Groban releases his ‘highly anticipated’ album ‘Donald Trump Tweets.’ What follows is an infomercial for the album -- which you can ‘call now to buy’ and get the extra-special bonus track ‘Losers & Haters’ (well worth it).” (Washington Post, August 18, 2015)
• March, 2016: Trump pledged during a televiison appearance that he would not tweet “very much as president.” “After a week in which a Donald Trump tweet about Ted Cruz and his wife launched what must, by now, be a thousand semi-seemly and utterly unseemly stories, Trump told the viewers of ABC News' ‘This Week’ that if elected he'll be a little more circumspect on social media. […]Astute viewers no doubt noted that Trump put no specific limits on his social media use. Instead, Trump left himself ample room to continue making use of inflammatory social media postings.” (Washington Post, March 27, 2016)

History of Plagiarism

• Trump submitted an op-ed to a newspaper in Guam that was plagiarized from an earlier article submitted by Ben Carson to a newspaper in the Mariana Islands. “During the Republican primary, Trump wrote an op-ed for a newspaper in Guam that bore a striking resemblance to one that former GOP rival Ben Carson submitted to a paper in the Mariana Islands just 12 days earlier. Daily Caller reporter Alex Pappas, who was first to note the apparent plagiarism, tweeted a side-by-side comparison of the two articles.” (Washington Post, July 19, 2016)
• Trump Institute instructional materials were plagiarized from a real estate manual. “Last month, the New York Times reported that 20 pages of a Trump Institute instructional book were essentially duplicated from a real estate manual published 11 years earlier.” (Washington Post, July 19, 2016)
• Trump once contrasted himself to Joe Biden, claiming that unlike Biden he had never plagiarized. “On the campaign trail, Trump once touted his record of not plagiarizing material. Last summer, when Vice President Joe Biden was considering a presidential bid, Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that he liked his chances against the veteran Democrat. ‘I think I'd match up great,’ Trump said. ‘I'm a job producer. I've had a great record. I haven't been involved in plagiarism. I think I would match up very well against him.’ When he ran for president in 1988, Biden admitted to committing plagiarism in law school and to lifting speech material from the British politician Neil Kinnock without attribution.” (Washington Post, July 19, 2016)

Other Social Media

• 2006: Somebody set up a fake MySpace page purporting to be Donald Trump’s. “The conventional wisdom is that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But in the digital age, that's often not the case for high-profile professionals being targeted on MySpace.com. The social-networking site is filled with dozens of user pages that purport to be profile pages created by business luminaries Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, Martha Stewart and Donald Trump. Many of the phony pages appear legitimate: They have flattering photos and list seemingly correct personal details, such as income, astrology signs and marital status. But bits of misinformation -- and even malicious tidbits -- are often tucked in. […] But for most of the well-known executives such as Trump and Buffett, the alleged profiles are fake.” (USA Today, September 25, 2006)